Sumpango, Sacatepéquez

Sumpango
Sumpango Giant Kite Festival
Coat of arms
Sumpango Location in Guatemala
Coordinates: 14°38′52″N 90°44′05″W / 14.64778°N 90.73472°W / 14.64778; -90.73472
Country	Guatemala
Department	Sacatepéquez Department
Area
• Total	21 sq mi (55 km2)
Elevation	6,200 ft (1,900 m)
Population (2002)
• Total	38,770
Climate	Cwb

Sumpango is a town in the Guatemalan department of Sacatepéquez.

In the 1540s, bishop Francisco Marroquín split the ecclesiastical administration of the central valley of Guatemala between the Order of Preachers and the Franciscans, assigning Sumpango's curato to the former. In 1638, the Dominicans separated their large doctrines in groups revolving around six convents:

Ecclesiastic historian Domingo Juarros wrote that in 1754, by virtue of a royal order of the enlightened absolutism of king Carlos III all curatos and doctrines of the regular clergy were moved on to the secular clergy.

Sumpango's Festival, also known as "Giant Kite Festival" is a cultural event that takes place on 1 November each year. One that day, people from the town gathers at the soccer field next to the town's cemetery to join a giant kite contest. Each kite has been made starting several months back and is graded on both creativity and length of flight. This contest has several centuries of existence and is now recognized as a Cultural Good of Guatemala. It was also granted a Cultural Award by then president Óscar Berger Perdomo in the mid 2000s.

Sumpango has a subtropical highland climate (Köppen climate classification: Cwb).